I took this snap on my way to the American Bar Association Magna Carta 800th year celebration in 2015. We remember the Magna Carta as the first curb on the power of the state in favor of ordinary men. After events in the past 24 hours however, I feel less free than ever. For most … More Unreasonable Searches and Seizures
Cuts from King Henry V, Act IV Scene III by William Shakespeare. The scene begins as the young, yet war like Henry has assumed the port of Mars, and invaded France to prove his mettle. It has been a good campaign but the English are exhausted. They must get past the French army at a … More Band of Brothers: Agincourt- October 25th 1415
The practice of family law has left me with a healthy respect for what Shakespeare meant with this passage from Much Ado About Nothing: Sigh no more, ladies, sigh nor more; Men were deceivers ever; One foot in sea and one on shore, To one thing constant never; Then sigh not so, But let them … More Hey, Nonny, Hey
We chose to go to the moon. We did so because we had faith in our leadership, our will, and our abilities. And we won. A clean win, no critical review, just plain victory. We beat the Russians there because we were better. We should remember that time.
Out where the handclasp’s a little stronger, Out where the smile dwells a little longer, That’s where the West begins; Out where the sun is a little brighter, Where the snows that fall are a trifle whiter; Where the bonds of home are a wee bit tighter; That’s where the West begins. Out where the … More Out Where the West Begins
Here is what President Reagan said at the Brandenburg Gate thirty years ago this June about the Berlin wall: “General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down … More Mr. Trump, Tear Down This Wall!
Men in the rough–on the trails all new-broken– Those are the friends we remember with tears; Few are the words that such comrades have spoken– Deeds are their tributes that last through the years. Men in the rough–sons of prairie and mountain– Children of nature, warm-hearted, clear eyed; Friendship with them is a never-sealed fountain; … More Men in the Rough
Winston Churchill – then Prime Minister for less than a month, then gave a taste of his courageous leadership in the House of Commons, June 4th, 1940, following the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk: We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas … More Fight on the Beaches
My children grew up in Lynnwood, Washington. I am afraid it didn’t have the same epic warm feeling to it as Robert Redford’s A River Runs Through It. Lynnwood is not Montana and there is no fly fishing there. By the time I heard lawyer Jeff Tolman of Poulsbo Washington tell us he had driven … More Lynnwood; Where My Children Were Raised: A Freeway Runs Through It
The 2016 holiday season gave me the opportunity to exercise paternal prerogative and slow for a moment the comet that is my daughter Rachel. I captured her thoughts and experiences about moving from Washington State to Washington D.C. but went well beyond the dichotomy that two places named the same could be so different. For … More The Rachel J. Patterson Interview
Lawyers Road Review 